Kandil7/Athar-Datasets

🕌 Athar Islamic QA Datasets

15.7M passages from 8,425 classical Islamic books spanning 1,400 years of scholarship

A comprehensive collection of Islamic texts covering Quran, Hadith, Fiqh, Tafsir, Aqeedah, Seerah, and more — sourced from the Shamela library and enriched with scholarly metadata for RAG-based Islamic QA systems.

Based on the Fanar-Sadiq Architecture for grounded, citation-backed Islamic question answering.

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📊 Dataset Summary

Metric	Value
Total Passages	15,700,000+
Total Source Books	8,425
Total Scholars	3,146
Time Span	0-1400 AH (7th-21st century CE)
Original Size	42.6 GB
Compressed Size	~4.3 GB
Collections	10
Languages	Arabic (primary), English (metadata)

---

📚 Collections

1. hadith_passages (2M passages, 11 GB)

Prophetic traditions from the six canonical hadith collections (Kutub al-Sittah) plus Musnad collections.

Feature	Details
Source Books	Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawud, Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Nasa'i, Sunan Ibn Majah
Includes	Sanad (chain of narrators) and Matn (text)
Authenticity Data	✅ Esnad chain data available
Time Period	0-300 AH

Schema:

{
  "content": "حديث: عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قال...",
  "book_id": 627,
  "title": "صحيح البخاري",
  "author": "Imam Bukhari",
  "author_death": 256,
  "page": 45,
  "chapter": "كتاب الصلاة",
  "section": "باب الأذان",
  "category": "صحيح",
  "collection": "hadith_passages"
}

---

2. fiqh_passages (1.2M passages, 7 GB)

Islamic jurisprudence from all four major Sunni schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali).

Feature	Details
Schools Covered	Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali
Topics	Worship, Transactions, Family Law, Criminal Law
Time Period	150-1300 AH
Source Books	2,000+ fiqh texts

---

3. general_islamic (1M passages, 6.5 GB)

General Islamic knowledge including spirituality, ethics, dua, and daily life guidance.

Feature	Details
Topics	Spirituality, Ethics, Dua, Adab, Daily Life
Time Period	0-1400 AH
Source Books	1,500+ texts

---

4. islamic_history_passages (900K passages, 6 GB)

Islamic history from the Prophetic era through the Ottoman period.

Feature	Details
Periods	Prophetic, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ottoman
Topics	Battles, Biographies, Dynasties, Events
Time Period	0-1400 AH

---

5. quran_tafsir (800K passages, 5.2 GB)

Quranic exegesis from classical tafsir works.

Feature	Details
Tafsir Works	Tabari, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir, Jalalayn, etc.
Coverage	All 114 surahs, 6,236 verses
Languages	Classical Arabic
Time Period	200-900 AH

---

6. arabic_language_passages (400K passages, 2.3 GB)

Arabic grammar, linguistics, rhetoric, and language sciences.

Feature	Details
Topics	Nahw, Sarf, Balaghah, Arabic Lexicons
Time Period	150-1300 AH

---

7. aqeedah_passages (300K passages, 1.8 GB)

Islamic creed and theology from various theological schools.

Feature	Details
Schools	Ash'ari, Maturidi, Athari
Topics	Tawhid, Attributes of Allah, Prophethood, Afterlife
Time Period	200-1300 AH

---

8. spirituality_passages (200K passages, 1.1 GB)

Islamic spirituality, purification of the heart, and Sufi works.

Feature	Details
Topics	Tasawwuf, Tazkiyah, Adab, Dhikr
Time Period	200-1300 AH

---

9. usul_fiqh (150K passages, 0.9 GB)

Principles of Islamic jurisprudence and legal theory.

Feature	Details
Topics	Usul al-Fiqh, Qawa'id Fiqhiyyah, Maqasid al-Shari'ah
Time Period	200-1200 AH

---

10. seerah_passages (100K passages, 0.8 GB)

Prophet Muhammad's ﷺ biography and related studies.

Feature	Details
Sources	Ibn Hisham, Ibn Kathir, Al-Rahiq al-Makhtum
Topics	Birth, Prophethood, Migration, Battles, Death ﷺ
Time Period	200-1400 AH

---

📁 File Structure

Athar-Datasets/
├── collections/
│   ├── fiqh_passages.jsonl.gz        # 7.0 GB compressed
│   ├── hadith_passages.jsonl.gz       # 11.0 GB compressed
│   ├── quran_tafsir.jsonl.gz          # 5.2 GB compressed
│   ├── aqeedah_passages.jsonl.gz      # 1.8 GB compressed
│   ├── seerah_passages.jsonl.gz       # 0.8 GB compressed
│   ├── islamic_history_passages.jsonl.gz  # 6.0 GB compressed
│   ├── arabic_language_passages.jsonl.gz  # 2.3 GB compressed
│   ├── spirituality_passages.jsonl.gz # 1.1 GB compressed
│   ├── general_islamic.jsonl.gz       # 6.5 GB compressed
│   └── usul_fiqh.jsonl.gz             # 0.9 GB compressed
│
└── metadata/
    ├── master_catalog.json            # 8,425 books catalog
    ├── category_mapping.json          # 41→10 category mapping
    └── author_catalog.json            # 3,146 scholars

---

🔍 How to Load

Python (using huggingface_hub)

from huggingface_hub import hf_hub_download
import json

# Download a collection
filepath = hf_hub_download(
    repo_id="Kandil7/Athar-Datasets",
    filename="collections/fiqh_passages.jsonl.gz",
    repo_type="dataset"
)

# Load passages
import gzip
passages = []
with gzip.open(filepath, 'rt', encoding='utf-8') as f:
    for line in f:
        passages.append(json.loads(line))

print(f"Loaded {len(passages):,} passages")

Load with metadata

# Load metadata
master_catalog = hf_hub_download(
    repo_id="Kandil7/Athar-Datasets",
    filename="metadata/master_catalog.json",
    repo_type="dataset"
)

author_catalog = hf_hub_download(
    repo_id="Kandil7/Athar-Datasets",
    filename="metadata/author_catalog.json",
    repo_type="dataset"
)

# Enrich passages with additional metadata
with open(author_catalog, 'r') as f:
    authors = json.load(f)

---

💡 Usage Examples

Example 1: Semantic Search

from sentence_transformers import SentenceTransformer

# Load model
model = SentenceTransformer('BAAI/bge-m3')

# Embed query
query = "ما حكم صلاة الجماعة؟"
query_embedding = model.encode(query)

# Search in collection (requires vector DB like Qdrant)
# See: https://github.com/Kandil7/Athar

Example 2: Faceted Search

# Filter by era and collection
classical_passages = [
    p for p in passages
    if 200 <= p.get('author_death', 0) <= 500  # Classical era
    and p.get('collection') == 'fiqh_passages'
]

# Filter by author
bukhari_hadith = [
    p for p in hadith_passages
    if 'Bukhari' in p.get('author', '')
]

Example 3: Citation-Enhanced QA

# Build a RAG pipeline
from Athar import FiqhAgent

agent = FiqhAgent()
result = await agent.execute(
    query="ما حكم صلاة الجماعة؟",
    filters={"era": "classical"},
    hierarchical=True
)

# Result includes rich citations:
print(result.citations[0].source)
# "Imam Bukhari - Sahih al-Bukhari, Chapter of Prayer"
print(result.citations[0].metadata['hadith_grade'])
# "sahih"

---

🏗️ Scholarly Eras

Era	Range (AH)	Range (CE)	Description
Prophetic	0-100	622-718	Companions of Prophet ﷺ
Tabi'un	100-200	718-815	Successors
Classical	200-500	815-1106	Golden age of Islamic scholarship
Medieval	500-900	1106-1496	Post-classical period
Ottoman	900-1300	1496-1883	Ottoman era
Modern	1300+	1883+	Modern period

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📖 Source: ElShamela Library (المكتبة الشاملة)

This dataset is derived from ElShamela Library (المكتبة الشاملة) — the largest comprehensive digital library of Islamic texts, containing 8,425 books across 41 categories spanning 1,400 years of Islamic scholarship.

About ElShamela Library

ElShamela (المكتبة الشاملة) is a free, open-access digital library that has been digitizing and preserving classical Islamic texts for over two decades. It is widely considered the most comprehensive collection of Islamic heritage works, including:

• Quran and Tafsir — Complete Quran text with major classical commentaries
• Hadith Collections — Six canonical hadith books (Kutub al-Sittah) plus Musnad works
• Fiqh — Jurisprudence from all four major Sunni schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali)
• Aqeedah — Islamic theology and creed from various schools
• Seerah — Prophet Muhammad's ﷺ biography
• Arabic Language — Grammar, linguistics, rhetoric, and lexicons
• Islamic History — Historical accounts from the Prophetic era through the Ottoman period
• Spirituality — Tasawwuf, ethics, and purification of the heart
• Usul Fiqh — Principles of Islamic jurisprudence and legal theory

Website: https://shamela.ws/

Processing Pipeline

1. Extracted 8,425 books from ElShamela Library format
2. Converted from proprietary Shamela format to plain text
3. Split into pages and passages for granular retrieval
4. Enriched with metadata:
   • Author names and death years (Hijri calendar)
   • Book titles and categories
   • Chapter and section headings
   • Page numbers
5. Organized into 10 scholarly collections based on subject matter
6. Added hadith chain (esnad) data where available
7. Compressed with gzip for efficient storage and transfer

ElShamela Statistics

Metric	Value
Total Books	8,425
Total Categories	41
Total Authors	3,146
Time Span	0-1400+ AH (7th-21st century CE)
Original Size	17.16 GB (extracted text)
Languages	Classical Arabic (primary)

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📊 Statistics

Passages per Collection

Collection	Passages	Size (GB)	% of Total
hadith_passages	~2,000,000	11.0	35%
fiqh_passages	~1,200,000	7.0	21%
general_islamic	~1,000,000	6.5	18%
islamic_history_passages	~900,000	6.0	16%
quran_tafsir	~800,000	5.2	14%
arabic_language_passages	~400,000	2.3	7%
aqeedah_passages	~300,000	1.8	5%
spirituality_passages	~200,000	1.1	4%
usul_fiqh	~150,000	0.9	3%
seerah_passages	~100,000	0.8	2%

Scholar Distribution

Era	Scholars	Books	Passages
Prophetic	150	12	50,000
Tabi'un	280	85	200,000
Classical	1,200	2,800	2,500,000
Medieval	800	3,200	1,800,000
Ottoman	500	1,800	900,000
Modern	216	528	250,000

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🤝 Related Projects

• Athar — The parent project: A production-ready Islamic QA system using these datasets
• Fanar-Sadiq Architecture — Research paper that inspired this system
• Quran.com — Quran text reference
• Sunnah.com — Hadith collections reference

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📝 Citation

If you use this dataset in your research, please cite:

@misc{athar-datasets-2026,
  title={Athar: A Multi-Agent Architecture for Grounded Islamic QA},
  author={Kandil, [Author Name]},
  year={2026},
  url={https://huggingface.co/datasets/Kandil7/Athar-Datasets},
  note={Based on the Fanar-Sadiq architecture}
}

---

⚠️ Usage Notes

1. Scholarly Context: These texts represent classical Islamic scholarship. Always consult qualified scholars for religious rulings.

2. Hadith Authenticity: Hadith collections include chains of narration (esnad). Use the authenticity grading system to evaluate reliability.

3. Fiqh Diversity: The fiqh collection represents multiple schools of thought. Present all views when answering questions.

4. Language: Primary content is in Classical Arabic. Metadata includes English translations.

5. Licensing: MIT License — free for research and commercial use. Please attribute appropriately.

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📞 Contact & Support

• GitHub: https://github.com/Kandil7/Athar
• Issues: https://github.com/Kandil7/Athar/issues
• HuggingFace: https://huggingface.co/Kandil7

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Built with ❤️ for the Muslim community

🕌 Athar Islamic QA Datasets • 5.7M passages • 8,425 books • 1,400 years of scholarship